Sao Paulo

Apologies for not updating the blog recently. Since arriving in Brazil last week, we’ve had limited access to internet.

When we touched down in Sao Paulo, it reminded us of being back in Dublin. Grey overcast skies, about 20 degrees C, and Marcel meeting us at the airport (Kadi’s old housemate from Dublin who has now moved back home to Brazil).

The first day or so in Sao Paulo was great, going to a few parties with local Brazilian people (including a Samba party), trying any of the fantastic local restaurants, and living it up in Marcel’s lovely apartment. But then Conor’s stomach decided not to cooperate anymore and he pretty much stayed in bed sick for the next 4 days trying various different drugs but to no avail.

We eventually left Sao Paulo a few days later than planned. Special thanks to Marcel and his mother Elza for looking after us so well in Sao Paulo.

It was nice to see another city that is not on the typical tourist’s checklist because you generally get a different experience from the other touristy places you might ordinarily visit (we probably would not have gone there except that we knew Marcel). For a start, we were meeting local Brazilians who speak the lingo and know the best places to go. You get to see some of the local hotspots that don’t even make it into the guidebooks (the place where Brazil declared its independence from Portugal, for example). Sao Paulo itself is not an insignificant city. It is very cosmopolitan! With its suburbs, it has a population of 20 million people...yes, 20 million people! With that brings a lot of poverty and crime, and on the night before we left, Marcel took us on a drive through some of the dodgier parts of the city (obviously not into the downright crazy places). It was an interesting sight, and not a place you’d like to walk along.

If you want to watch very good movies on the crime and drug-wars in Brazil, then download “The City of God (2002)” and “The Elite Squad (2007)”. They’re both in Portuguese so you’ll need to download appropriate subtitles aswell. They’re both set in Rio de Janeiro.....our next destination.